Third Quarter
The Sixers were able to retain that momentum as they opened the second half shooting 6-of-8 from the floor. This start actually wasn’t driven by McCain, who had a couple ugly turnovers. He did contribute though with a layup and a tough runner over KCP.
Orlando starting the half shooting 8-of-12 from the floor didn’t allow the Sixers to get out to any sort of lead. The Magic got back to getting a lot of shots in the paint — how well they were shooting in a quarter was pretty much dictated by where they were shooting from.
Just about the only guy who didn’t shoot it well in the quarter was Maxey, who went just 1-of-5 in the third. His struggles from inside the arc are noticeable in the past couple games when he hasn’t shot 50% from three. Even with Maxey’s struggles, a corner three from McCain tied the game back up to close the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Caleb Martin missed some games due a back injury, but he hasn’t looked particularly healthy since he’s returned. It still looks like he’s being bothered by the back, and his jumpers are still an adventure with whatever is going on with his shoulder. He got turned over trying to drive and air-balled a three a few possessions later as the Magic opened the quarter on a 10-2 run.
It really wore on Yabu just now much the Sixers were asking of him as a center. Threes from both him and Oubre brought them back to within four. A couple possessions that ended in second-chance points and a couple more that ended with wide open layups undid that work. Nick Nurse tried to counter with an ultra small lineup around Maxey and McCain of Oubre, KJ Martin, and Ricky Council IV.
The Sixers made their final push when Maxey cut the lead to six with a layup with three minutes remaining. A minute later they cut it to three. After a catch-and-shoot three from Council failed to tie it, the Sixers got a stop with another chance to tie. Maxey opted to go for the quick layup, and it took the Sixers over 10 seconds to foul the Magic and put them at the line.
It took two fouls to get them there as the Sixers still had one to give. KCP made both, putting the Sixers again down three with eight seconds remaining. Maxey tried to draw the same foul he did last week against Houston, but could not get the call nor the shot to fall. It worked for them last time, but it also would have been nice to see them draw up an actual play at the end.
Same team, same place, slightly different time. The Sixers will go right back at it with these Magic Friday night at the Center at 7 p.m. ET.
Well, Jared McCain is out of his slump, at least there’s that.
The Sixers fell just short of the Orlando Magic Wednesday night, falling 106-102 right at the wire.
Jared McCain led the Sixers with 24 points and seven rebounds, shooting 10-of-17 from the field and 3-of-6 from three. Tyrese Maxey struggled again, finishing with 16 points on 7-of-19 shooting and 0-of-7 from beyond the arc. Like recent games, he hit some big layups down the stretch but unlike recent games, he was unable to draw a foul or make his final three-point shot to send the game to overtime.
Guerschon Yabusele and Kelly Oubre Jr. both had 15 while Franz Wagner led all scorers with 35.
With the Sixers on the second night of a back-to-back, Kyle Lowry and Paul George joined Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond on the list of inactives tonight.
Here are some thoughts at the buzzer.
First Quarter
The Sixers were at a significant height disadvantage in this one, and they dealt with it fine enough in the early goings. Both Maxey and KJ Martin were able to put back missed layups as part of a 5-of-8 start from the field. Yabu shook off his rough shooting night with a corner three and a couple baskets inside.
Where the length did affect the Sixers early was on the perimeter, as the Magic poked away three steals in the first half of the quarter. Jalen Suggs and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were swarming Maxey and McCain’s passing lanes. They also didn’t have many good options for Franz Wagner, who went for 11 in the first.
Even with some more solid minutes from Adem Bona, the Magic’s constant pressure at the rim wore on the Sixers’ defense. They weren’t really keeping drivers in front of them, on top of constantly having someone bigger at the rim to get the offensive rebound if the shot missed. The Magic got out to a 12-point lead after one.
Second Quarter
After a slow finish to the first, the Sixers offense did get rolling again a bit. That was in large part due to McCain, who had a couple of tough finishes including his scoop layup over Jonathan Isaac. Oubre knocked down a couple of threes as well.
The Magic were able to get out to their lead so quickly because they were just getting a ton of high-quality looks. They only took four shots outside of the paint in the first quarter. Sitting in a zone early doubling that early in the second, the Sixers forcing a bad jump shooting team to shoot helped them chip away.
That zone continued to help facilitate Magic misses, and the offense kept chipping away. Orlando was held scoreless for the final 2:39 of the half. Maxey, who did not shoot the ball well in the half, ended things with a couple layups that tied the game at 53 at the break.
Sixers' rookie Jared McCain led the team with 24 point in the loss to the 3rd place Magic.
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